Todd Howard of Bethesda Game Studios has put a spanner in the works of everyone hoping for a Starfield resurgence by closing down claims that ‘Starfield 2.0’ is on the horizon (or the event horizon? Space joke).
Recently, those who attended behind-closed-doors sessions hosted by Bethesda were quickly taking to social media to pledge the imminent evolution of the game, but Todd Howard wants to set expectations straight. He has done so in a new interview by stressing that everything going forward will be about Starfield.
Bethesda Game Studios is Focusing Big Time on Starfield
Starfield hasn’t exactly had the most love from Bethesda Game Studios. The game dropped in September 2023, and despite claims of a yearly DLC release schedule, we’ve had just one expansion land – Shattered Space. That expansion was known about long before the game came out, but by today, the game’s second expansion hasn’t been unveiled by the company behind the space-faring RPG.
Like other Bethesda titles, Starfield has relied heavily on the modding community to keep the content flowing.
However, now that the Fallout TV show has wrapped and Bethesda is looking to make Fallout 76’s content updates less ambitious, more focus can be applied to Starfield. In a recent interview with Kinda Funny, that’s exactly what Howard alluded to:
Obviously, we’ve been working on a lot of Starfield content, we haven’t talked about it yet. The end of last year for us was prickly, for us – we have periods where we focus on IPs and franchises, and Fallout obviously dominated the fall and earlier this year, but you’ve seen it.
And I can tell everybody we’re gonna be talking about it really soon. We’re moving into a phase where we’re going to be talking about Starfield and really show that in the right way.
He then shut down the rumors and claims about Starfield 2.0, the sought-after next level of the sci-fi RPG that everyone believes would make it worth playing again.
It is not Starfield 2.0 – I’ve seen some of that, and for expectation setting – I think it’s the kinda thing where – if you like Starfield, we think you’re going to love this. It’s updates and things that change the game, not in an isolated way, but you know ‘meta’ – using outer space and things in ways that we haven’t.
But if Starfield is something that didn’t connect with you right away, or you bounced off it, or found it boring in places – I don’t think it’s going to change that fundamentally, but if you’re someone who loves Starfield and we think, we’re really happy with it.
(Thanks to DayOne for the quotes)
Starfield is in dire need of a resurgence, especially as we’re not getting a new Fallout game for many years and The Elder Scrolls 6 doesn’t seem to be surfacing any time soon. Once upon a time, Starfield was the most hotly anticipated game in the business, but now it feels ready to be forgotten.
Do you want to see more energy funnelled into making Starfield great again? Let us know what you’re thinking on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Escape from Tarkov has a new roadmap
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
More from Grant Taylor-Hill
Starfield was never great so how can it be great again?
Fair point
Let’s just all be real. They are scared. Nothing more, nothing less. The talent that made their IP great including and up the the ACTUAL creators of TES are gone. He knows he can’t live up to the hype of TES6. The game (TES6) im quite certain will be Todd Howards and others last.
FO4 was like a test game for the engine and building/junk mechanics and I expected a quick followup like with FO3 and FO:NV but nope. We got Starfield, another Engine upgrade and the laziest thing I’ve ever seen. The game could have been great but I can’t touch it again.
Why would they make a game so big and only put what seems like 7 POIs with the same… EVERYTHING. Completely identical. I hate that the most with that game and the PG that makes modding a nightmare. Which lets not forget Todd himself called Starfield a “modders paradise”.
Then they remove the scrap mechanics when I’m pretty sure deep space would be as much if not more dire. I expected vacuum tape to seal leaks in my suit when I started playing and collected it. Needless to say I was disappointed.
I wish them the best of luck but they grew to big and great games are made by smaller groups of individuals who get together and magic happens. They have a clear plan, great communication and less roadblocks. Look at Bioware and Bungie for example. Useless, empty husks and just names now.
Sadly the groups rarely even realize that’s what happened. They branch apart try to do their own thing and 99% fail. Because it wasn’t any one person who made Dragon Age, Halo, Destiny, TES Morrowind, FO3 ect. It was a very specific group of people, leadership and artistic freedom.
Then they get ripped apart for one reason or another each company I used as a example each have their own story in that department.
I love Starfield. So according to Todd, I should love what’s coming….I hope its more POIs and a more connected space flight experience! A new DLC would be a bonus.
Starfields redemption arc is a completely fabricated story by the community – they want it so badly to be no mans sky, but Bethesda has never worked like that, or even hinted at anything close to a 2.0
They will fulfill the DLC promises they made then move on to the next game. Like they have done with every other game they have ever made.
They shouldve concentrated on just 5 star systems like Colony wars did in the 90’s.
Big is not better …
By creating 5 sandboxes more handcrafting can be done and real time planet to atmosphere to space traversal which what people needed could be achieved .
The Bethesda via a dlc could add more in time and the modding community could add content to the basic game .
It’s too late now as design is how how it is , i enjoy playing it occasionally but either they missed the point of what was expected or there are severe limitations on what the game engine can do .
I tend to think it is both and i feel there are more issues ahead by changing the certain mechanics and whether the game saves will continue be unstable due to save bloat which is precisely why Unity feature was created .
I wish them well but 1000’s procedural generated sandboxes was not the direction bethesda should’ve gone in ..